


What Can't Be Learnt In Books

by Winter_Skye



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Professors, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, For 6000 YEARS, M/M, Mutual Pining, They're two idiots in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-02 13:24:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19442338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winter_Skye/pseuds/Winter_Skye
Summary: It's not that they didn't have other things to do, rather it was Aziraphale bringing up the idea of doing good by inspiring students and Crowley deciding to tag along under the guise that he could do demonic work near the campus.Now respected professors, albeit sometimes deemed odd, the two soon become the ones learning something as they realize they've been turning a blind eye to something glaringly obvious.Aka my take on the college Professors AU :)





	1. Introductions Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> A couple things I want to make sure are known before you begin!  
> *Aziraphale is still an angel and Crowley is still a demon  
> *The 6,000 year friendship is still a thing  
> *Armageddon is not impending and there's not an Antichrist  
> *Anathema is still a witch! (I'm not taking away those traits :D)  
> *I've yet to go to college so I'm sorry about any and all inaccuracies! 
> 
> Not beta'd all mistakes are my own!!

_ ‘You can do this, Anathema,’  _ the girl thought to herself as she adjusted the straps of her bookbag and tightened her grip on the piece of paper in her hand. The paper that told her how her next year of study was going to go. 

She stood in the middle of the campus, wondering where her usual confidence had gone. She ultimately decided that even if she was scared, none of the other students milling around the grounds would be able to tell. There were a couple other freshman checking and rechecking their schedules to make sure they knew what part of the campus they were headed to. 

With a look at hers, Anathema realized she wasn’t quite sure where she was even supposed to be. She glanced around, hoping to find someone who would be able to direct her in the right direction. Although she had memorized the layout of the campus, it wasn’t translating into the buildings that were in front of her. 

“How’s your course load this year?”

“Don’t get me started, I have so much to do this year just to graduate on time.”

Quickly she turned to see a pair of students walking past her general direction, they seemed to have a decent idea as to what they were doing. A quick decision led to her striding over to the pair, her skirt and hair beginning to blow as the breeze began to pick up. Holding her head up she stopped the pair, “Excuse me, may I ask you two something?”

“Huh? Yeah go ahead,” The shorter of the two responded.

“I was wondering if you could help guide me to the building where my class is being held,” She explained as she pointed to the first class on the list:  _ History Of Theatre.  _

The taller of the pair glanced over at the schedule, “Oh dear, that’s on the other side of campus. And with Professor Fell. He’s odd.”

“Odd?” Anathema questioned, she could do odd. Odd was her speciality. 

“Yeah a tad, but you have to admit that he has a high passing rate. If you want to talk about odd you can talk about Professor Crowley,” they pointed out another class on Anathema’s schedule:  _ Introduction To Philosophy. _

The pair quickly gave Anathema the needed directions so that she could run off immediately after giving her thanks as to hopefully avoid being late. She thanked herself as she rushed across the campus, thank goodness she had left her dorm with extra time to account for this exact situation. 

She quickly checked her watch as she pushed open the door to the classroom, good the class hadn’t started yet and wasn’t set to begin for another 5 minutes. When she looked back up, she was greeted with a small auditorium rather than a classroom. A stage was in the center of the room with seats all around, although in the very back of the stage there was what looked like a teachers desk.  _ ‘Great, does this mean that we’ll be performing?’  _ She grumbled to herself as she heard a voice directing her and the other students walking into the classroom, “Hello everyone! As you come in can you do me a favor and take a seat in this section here,” he finished as he motioned to the largest seating area in the middle of the auditorium. 

As she walked over to the section, she carefully refolded the paper as to return it back to its rightful spot in her bag. Anathema decided on a seat next to a nice looking guy, she sat her bag down before smoothing her skirt and taking the seat next to him. 

“Hello, the name’s Anathema,” She said as she held out her hand as a greeting, exuding confidence. A stark contrast to the slightly unsure boy seated next to her. He hesitantly shook her hand and responded, “I’m Newton, or you can just call me Newt. Or you can call me Newton if you want to. Honestly I’ll answer to anything as long as it kind of sounds like my-”

“It’s nice to meet you Newt,” She cut him off to save not only him but everyone else from rambling that probably could have gone on for another 5 minutes, or hours. “Why are you taking this class?”

“Well I um needed an elective-”

“And a GPA booster?”

“Well yeah I guess so,” Newt sheepishly replied, rubbing the back of his neck, “I’m supposed to major in computer science but I’m not sure how that’s going to work out. I’m really bad with computers, or I guess they’re bad with me? I touch them and they just break?”

“Then you might want to think about changing majors,” Anathema paused for a moment before continuing, “See, I’m majoring in occult studies.”

“I didn’t know they offered that here.”

“I’ve worked with faculty to create a tailored plan,” Anathema explained.

“Oh,” Newt mused it over, the girl in front of him definitely seemed to have her life together. Her accent clearly wasn’t British, so it did leave him to wonder what would have drawn a smart girl like her to come to a school outside of her country for something like  _ occult studies _ . Couldn’t you find that at another college? Or create a tailored plan somewhere else?

Someone clearing their throat caused the two to look towards the stage, where a blond man stood. Dressed in clothes that Anathema could only describe as antiquated, while everyone else looked like they belonged in the 21st century and rightfully so, this man looked as though he belonged in the 1920’s not a decade after that. 

“Hello everyone, welcome to your first class of History Of Theatre here at Oxford University! I’m Professor Fell and I’m very excited to get to know all of you.” He finished with a smile that Anathema could only describe as angelic, he automatically seemed inviting and like he would comfort them at their lowest lows. Those students may have been right saying that he’s odd, but she liked odd and she liked him so far. 

“Alright! We’re gonna start this off with a game!”

A chorus of confused noises rippled through the class, a class that couldn’t have been larger than 30. 

Newt raised his hand and spoke, “Professor? Aren’t we going to get a syllabus? Or something?”

Anathema’s hand went up immediately after, continuing on the train of thought, “And why a  _ game? _ Isn’t this a  _ history _ class?”

“Valid questions you two! I like the enthusiasm,” Professor Fell beamed as he continued, “Why we’re going to play a theatre game, Ms. Device. And to answer you Mr. Pulsifer, you’ll get the papers in a bit.” Newt and Anathema shared a glance at each other, unsure how he would have happened to know both of their last names. “It’s just always more fun to get you all up and moving! Theatre is meant to be studied by performance! Not by sitting and reading. Although reading is tremendous fun and highly enriching, I completely recommend it for those of you haven’t picked up a book since your last assigned reading.” He finished with a pointed glance to a few students in particular who all had looks of shock pass over their faces. Anathema could hear one of the girls in front of her, who had received said pointed glance, whisper to the boy next to her, “I haven’t touched a book since I read Frankenstein senior year. What the  _ hell _ .”

“If you all wouldn’t mind, I would appreciate it if you would join me up here on the stage,” Fell took a step back and made a wide gesture at the area around him while the students grumbled, leaving their bags in their seats and walking down to the stage. 

“Preferably in a circle,” Fell instructed. 

Once the students were all standing in a decent enough circle, plenty with their arms crossed and rolling their eyes. Others like Anathema and Newt, who took spots next to each other solely for the sake of complaining to each other if things began to go downhill, watched their professor carefully as he eyed the students in the circle. Looking as though he wanted to join the circle but was simply looking for the best spot. He turned for a moment before taking the spot next to Newt and the other boy next to him. 

“To be successful, everyone in this room needs to be comfortable doing whatever is tasked of them. Even if that means being a tad bit silly, as many plays might come across. This is a game of improvisation, therefore you need to come up with your actions and words on the spot. We will be moving an ‘item’ around this circle,” He made air quotes around the word item, “in any way you see fit. Some of you may find this ‘item’ to be heavier, some of you may be able to simply through it to each other. Mr. Pulsifer,” Fell turned to look at Newt who immediately felt most of the color leave his face, “You will be the first to receive this item.”

With a wide smile, Fell mimed holding an object before gently tossing it to Newt who acted as though he caught it. And although there seemed to be nothing in his hands he could swear that he felt a weight in his hands. Shaking it off, he turned to Anathema and gingerly handed it to her, and when she ‘took’ it from him she dropped to a squat as though the item she had been given was the heaviest thing she’d held in a long time. Of course, Newt thought, of course she’s really good at doing something like this. 

The rest of the students continued moving their ‘item’ around the circle. Each student taking a different approach, one pointed to their friend on the other side of the circle and threw it like you would a baseball. Another held it in their hand and gently blew on it for the person next to them to catch it in their hand. 

Professor Fell watched as everyone took their own spin on the task at hand, realizing those who were much more comfortable doing the outlandish and those who were much more reserved. As well as who he would personally want to help bring out of their shell.

He smiled as he watched the students laugh and begin to open up as they moved from one game to another. He would occasionally shout words of encouragement when an improv scene would seem to be moving slowly, or someone seemed stuck. Even laughing when one of the girls insisted that he joined in on every single one because, “We’ll learn better if you're here doing it with us.” And of course he was happy to oblige. 

When the class period was nearing its end, Fell handed out the syllabus that Newt had been so worried about before, as well as a schedule of their upcoming assignments. 

Anathema and Newt lagged behind the other groups of students as they both had found out earlier that neither of them had another class immediately after this one. So they took their time packing up their bags, even though they only had a couple papers that the professor had given them, it was mostly taken up by talking. 

“Thank you for being kind to me,” Newt spoke as he zipped up his bag and threw it over his shoulder.

“Of course, you gave me no reason to be anything else,” She smiled and held out a piece of paper, “Here’s my number, by the way. If you wanted to talk outside of class.”

Newt could feel the heat as it rose into his cheeks, “Oh uhm thank you Anathema, I appreciate it,” he finished with a sheepish smile. 

“It’s no problem,” She responded turning to walk out of the auditorium, only stopping when she heard the doors slam open and a voice call out, “Aziraphale!”

Her and Newt could only share a confused look as they ran through who could be coming through the door as none of the other students were still in the room and Professor Fell sat at a desk, with a book open in his hands, only looking up when the name was called. 

“Yes Crowley?”


	2. Introductions Pt 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!! Thank you so much for such a positive response! I really hope you guys enjoy the rest of this story :)  
> Also, sorry, I may slip some american words in here like Freshman (I totally did do that) I know I set this in a British university but I think you guys can forgive me ^^;
> 
> Once again not beta'd so all mistakes are my own!!!

“You would not believe the insufferable freshman I have to teach this year!”

Anathema and Newt exchanged another glance as they watched another man, clearly another professor, march into the auditorium and throw himself into the chair opposite of Professor Fell’s. His red hair was half pulled back into a bun, and he wore much more fashionable clothes than Fell did. 

“Really? I think that the freshman this year are actually quite nice.” Professor Fell responded as he went back to reading his book, a copy of Hamlet if Anathema was correct, “In fact I have a couple still waiting around.”

Newt could feel the blood drain from his face as he stiffened, noticing that the red-haired man turned to look at him. He felt for certain that he was being looked up and down, being analyzed, but couldn’t be sure because of the fact that the man wore sunglasses. 

_‘Sunglasses inside? That’s certainly an odd choice’_ Anathema found herself thinking as he straightened out her skirt as the Professor scrutinized them. 

“Oi, what are you two still doing here?” His words felt tipped with malice, “Don’t you have some other class to go to?” 

“We were just talking, we don’t have another class right now, sir,” Anathema responded, tightening her grip on the straps of her bag, there was something about him, he was _odd._ And not the generic odd that the other students seemed to be talking about, she could sense something about him that was _off._

“Now Crowley, don’t go scaring them, Ms. Device and Mr. Pulsifer were two of my best students today.” Fell said as he flipped another page in his book, well script, and jotted down a note on a piece of paper. 

“We were?” Anathema questioned, hesitantly taking a step towards the odd pair, Newt trailing behind her. 

“Indeed,” He scribbled another note, “Ms. Device your ability to be outgoing goes well with Mr. Pulsifer’s more reserved manner. I’m excited to see how you two grow throughout the year,” He finally looked up and smiled at the students. Fell placed his pencil in the pages of the script and closed it, setting it on top of the desk. 

“Thank you Professor, that means a lot,” Anathema replied, feeling a tad bit more comfortable than she had a couple minutes ago. 

“My dear girl, you can call me Aziraphale when we’re not in class, I don’t mind.” His smile was soft and kind, whereas Crowley quirked up an eyebrow as though Aziraphale had made an odd statement. 

“You two cretins are supposed to be in my class too I presume?” Crowley remarked throwing his feet up on the desk, Aziraphale looked him up and down, clearly unhappy as though he wanted to push his legs off. Only instead to let out a sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose, Crowley smirking in a way almost to say ‘ _ha, I won’._

“Well, yes I am,” Anathema answered, “Also cretins seems to be a harsh way to address a couple of students, Professor.”

Crowley only shrugged as Newt finally spoke up, “I’m in your class too. How did you even know that?”

“Anathema Device and Newton Pulsifer, your fame precedes you,” Crowley sarcastically remarked as he eyed a well manicured hand, “Besides the fact that I usually get stuck with the majority of freshman, philosophy being a recommended course and all that.” 

“You’re just not what I expected, I mean as a philosophy professor,” Anathema once again took a step towards the pair, in an attempt to close the distance. 

“Oh, you’ve got a lot to say” Crowley brought his legs off the desk and leaned forward in his chair, his elbows resting on his knees, “And what were you expecting, Ms. Device? An old man? A stuck up woman? A talking snake?”

“Well… I’m not quite sure.” 

“I’ll have you know that I’m quite well versed in questioning everything around us, much more than either one of you will probably know.”

Anathema could swear that a look of sadness passed over Aziraphale’s face but it was gone as quickly as it appeared that she couldn’t even be sure that it was there to begin with. Once again, he was back to his bright and cheerful self. 

“Crowley, dear, what was your point in storming into my classroom?”

“Well, I had intended to see if you’d like to get a bite to eat with me-”

“But instead you began on a tirade, and criticized my students.”

“Well, uhm, I uh guess I did.”

“Indeed,” Aziraphale once again picked up his script, flipping to the page he had marked with his pencil. 

“I think we should be going, right Anathema?” Newt asked as he began trying to urge Anathema to walk towards the door, as he was clearly feeling awkward in the situation. 

Anathema took the hint and began walking out, “Right, I think we should be finding our next classes about now. Thank you both for your time.” 

The duo walked out of the auditorium, leaving only the professors in their wake. The air remained silent for a moment before Aziraphale broke it, “Really? A talking snake? You just had to include that?” 

“Let me have some fun!”

“I also don’t know how you can be so flippant about your Fall.”

“Angel, that was a long time ago, it’s alright for me to make light of. I mean questioning things is kind of my side job now,” Crowley made a vague gesture at himself before pausing for a moment, “There was something odd about those two.”

“Oh as though we aren’t the talk of the campus as being the odd ones.”

~oO0Oo~

The couple of minutes after Anathema and Newt walked out of the auditorium was spent in silence, both of them still trying to comprehend the interaction they had just witnessed between two of their professors. 

“That was odd-” They both began at the same time, before stopping realizing that they both were trying to speak. 

Newt chuckled slightly at the coincidence before starting, “Those two are quite an odd pair. I felt wrong to be there, you know?”

“I know. I’m going to tell you something and I need you to not freak out, alright? You might find it odd.” Anathema halted their walking and turned to directly face Newt. 

“I think I’ll be okay with a little bit more odd today.” 

“Okay,” she paused and looked around for a moment, “I can see auras-”

“Oh you’re one of those people, the “magic” people-”

“No. I’m a witch.” 

“As in pointy black hat and black cat?”

“We don’t wear hats like that.”

“Could you place a curse on someone?”

“Theoretically yes, but that’s not the point. I can tell you more later.”

Newt’s mouth hung open in disbelief, unsure whether or not he believed the girl standing in front of him. Witches? Wasn’t that all made up? Or just some tales used to scare children? And she could place a curse on someone? He made a mental note to do his best to stay on her good side. 

“Like I said, I can see auras-”

“What’s mine look like?”

  
“It’s blue, now stop cutting me off.” At the word, Newt shut his mouth tight, realizing he almost broke the rule he had just made for himself. “I can see auras, and I can tell you right now that those two have something in theirs that doesn’t seem quite _human_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed! I know it's not that long of a chapter, I just really wanted to get Crowley introduced to these two. And I may have used this as a way to procrastinate doing my own college search?
> 
> Heads up: the theatre classes will probably be more prevalent/in depth than the philosophy ones because ya girl takes theatre classes and intends to major in it so I know just a little bit more about that than Philosophy. 
> 
> Also if you want to see more of my good omens content check out my twitter @Winter__Skye  
> Or all of my art condensed on my Instagram @Winter._.skye!!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I'm very excited to work on this multi chapter story and hope that you guys enjoy reading it as much as I love writing it! I'm also a fan of giving Newt and Anathema more recognition!! Don't worry Aziraphale and Crowley will become the main characters :)
> 
> The theatre class was entirely based off of the time I shadowed a college theatre class! It was so much fun and I got to actually participate in the activities, one of which was the game of moving an item from one person to the other in fun and interesting ways. 
> 
> Shout out to my friend Mae (@maelipie on twitter) for helping me solidify what Aziraphale and Crowley are professors of!
> 
> I love and appreciate all of you! <3


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